tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1870069212223825401.post3874457091364075309..comments2024-03-28T03:27:26.345-04:00Comments on Dee-lusions of Grandeur: Empty Garden .. Can You Come Out to Play? An Experiment in CaptioningDee Mentiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07798903090538917010noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1870069212223825401.post-56117035267529795382017-05-19T18:09:33.814-04:002017-05-19T18:09:33.814-04:00Indeed, it's why I enjoy visiting here - the d...Indeed, it's why I enjoy visiting here - the discussion of the craft. I hope others eventually join you. There are one-handed captions, I know, but the best of the captions, the ones that last, aren't always those ones and much more likely to be those that are self-contained stories with just the right amount of ambiguity. Be it through a certain wistfulness, some squirming or even just carefully placed blanks in the narrative.<br /><br />I think I've said it before, but captioning seems to be a lot like poetry in that there is the skill of saying as much as possible in the fewest words, well-chosen words, possible. And the emotions and words must furthermore match an image (or even animated gif).<br /><br />And yes, sound and captions... Intractable.<br /><br />Finally, on the Russia thing. I concur. But the news out of your part of the world (inasmuch as watching late night comedy shows would show me news) is pretty darn terrifying any way you cut it at present. I mean, I should talk from the UK, neither of us is France. Oh, wait, there are parallels with the German Presidential campaign of 1932. Bugger.Joanna Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03765570687013090805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1870069212223825401.post-41668508284378547402017-05-17T20:05:38.161-04:002017-05-17T20:05:38.161-04:00Thank you so very much for slogging through the te...Thank you so very much for slogging through the text and coming up with some thoughts to add upon what was already there. And as you mentioned above, many do have deeper aspects to their captions, but choose not to elaborate, mostly because they probably think they are spending too much time on something only a few people will care about.<br /><br />I've always seen this blog as a place where I can give you "the story behind the story" which was an extension of discussions I'd have with Mistress Simone, Bren, Jennifer, and later on Calvin / Caitlyn, Kait and others.<br /><br />Image and sound is harder to mix, as you'd have to make either a video or some sort of Powerpoint presentation to get it to work. I know Jennifer used to tell people what she was listening to when she made individual captions which offered insight. I tend to add a music offering that somehow gives a bit more depth to the caption, or has something referentially or tangentially related to what I've written.<br /><br />I was going to go with the song that inspired the caption title, since I thought of the words, "And I've been knocking but no one answers.And I've been knocking most all the day. Oh and I've been calling, oh hey hey Johnny! Can't you come out to play?" as what Dee (and Steve to an extent) was thinking.<br /><br />But with all the Russian mania here in America with regards to the presidency, I couldn't help but think back to the end of the cold war and how certain people seem to want to replay it. They don't seem to realize it's much more complicated today. There might be 100 answers to the question .. and EVERY single one of them is wrong.Dee Mentiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07798903090538917010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1870069212223825401.post-26480580036425682132017-05-17T18:18:41.405-04:002017-05-17T18:18:41.405-04:00Wow. That conversation was illuminating to say the...Wow. That conversation was illuminating to say the least and further illustrates the kind of depth and complexities that tend to render me unable to create captions. You went deep to begin with (one of the lasting lyrics in my head is "the woman in me shouts out/the man in me just smiles") and then went deeper and then deeper still all without breaking stride or style.<br /><br />I mean, the use of text to provide an insight into the mind, the 'silent markers' (great term) and then the merging and the different direction. I'm not sure this particular caption would even work as 'wank material'. I mean, I get that captions often focus on that 'money' aspect and I have used some visual material in that fashion, but I also understand that the best, the most lasting, captions are more than and not even 'wank material'.<br /><br />What I find fascinating is the way that everyone, when challenged, has these deep aspects to their work but don't analyse them until the forum allows for them to do so. The stretching and fading of the boundaries would, I think, still work without creating extra space, for example, and you could even deliberately smudge the image around the Dee in the centre to further enhance the effect of the textual surround.<br /><br />One aspect of captions that I would love to see work is combination sound and image, though I am very much aware that you kinda do this already on your blog. I'd love to see some way of combining music and text but have yet to work out how to do this reliably. I once synced a passage to a track (rob d's Clubbed to Death was the track, in case you wondered) but that was based on my reading speed, which is not everyone else's reading speed. Interesting experiment in that it proved there was no easy way to do it (and it was hard to write too).<br /><br />And the sentiment in 'The Russians' seems carefully framed and placed too. I suspect quite a lot of thought went into that choice.<br /><br />Also, yes, you have my 'squee' of anticipation and thanks in advance.<br /><br />JoannaJoanna Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03765570687013090805noreply@blogger.com